NFL
By: Kristy Love
The NFL announced that the Chicago Bears will play in the NFL Hall of Fame Game on Thursday, August 1st in Canton, Ohio. The last time the Bears played in Canton was in 2018 when they lost to the Baltimore Ravens 17-16. That also was when Brian Urlacher was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The Bears were 12-4 the last season they played in the Hall of Fame game, winning the NFC North and taking a trip to the Wild Card game. Unfortunately, they would lose to the Philadelphia Eagles, 16-15, under first-year head coach Matt Nagy. With the Bears making changes and having the first and ninth pick in the NFL draft, will the Bears have another winning record as they are set to play in another Hall of Fame game?
The Bears have three inductees in 2024:
Devin Hester (41) is one of the best punt/kickoff returners in the NFL as he got 20 special team touchdowns, 14 punt returns touchdowns, five kickoff touchdowns, and one missed field goal returned for a touchdown. Not to mention, Hester is the only player to have a kickoff return for a touchdown in the Super Bowl (Super Bowl XLI) in 2007 against the Indianapolis Colts.
As far as yardages go, Devin Hester has a total of 3,695 yards in punt returns and 7,333 kickoff return yards through 11 seasons in the NFL. To add to his stats, Hester also added 3,427 yards and 17 touchdowns as he also played as a wide receiver. Hester spent eight years of his career with the Chicago Bears and then he got traded to the Atlanta Hawks where he finished his career in the NFL.
Julius Peppers (44) was drafted to the Carolina Panthers back in 2002, where he played through seven seasons. From there, Peppers played for the Chicago Bears from 2010-2013 and shortly after went to the Green Bay Packers. During his career, Peppers became NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, he made the first team all-pro team three times, and Peppers is also a nine-time Pro Bowler.
During Peppers time in Chicago, he had 38 sacks eight out of the 38 sacks came during his first season with the Bears. Julius Peppers ranks fourth all-time in sacks in the NFL with 159.5.
Steve McMichael (66) being inducted into the Hall of Fame has been a long-awaited event. He received at least 80 percent of the votes to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. McMichael played 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears from 1981-1993. He set a franchise record of playing 191 straight games with the Bears. Steve McMichael also known as “Mongo” ranks second in Bears history with 92.5 sacks, which helped the Bears win NFC North Division titles, and was a part of the 85 Bears Super Bowl defensive team.
McMichael is a two-time first-team All-Pro, a three-time second-team, All-Pro, and a two-time pro bowler. McMichael was also named the 19th-best player in Chicago Bears history in 2019 by the Chicago Bears Centennial Scrapbook.
McMichael was drafted by the New England Patriots in the third round in 1980, then he was released and signed with the Chicago Bears in 1981 and the rest was history. He was ranked fourth in the NFL history by a defensive tackle.
The class of 2024 also inducted Dwight Freeney, Randy Gradishar, Patrick Willis, and Andre Johnson who is the first Texans to make the Hall of Fame.
Kickoff is set for Thursday, August 1st at 7 pm CST and the Hall of Fame inductee ceremony will be Saturday, August 3rd.
